,,,,,,,,,,,,

The sky gradually became white and the sky was already hazy. In a valley in the northern part of Longbeiyuan, 10,000 Jiangxia fell on both sides of the road, sleeping soundly. Everyone was wrapped in a thick blanket, with weapons and armor around them, so they could get up to fight at any time.

Several patrols were deployed around the valley, and recent scouts were also inspecting Longbeiyuan and the northern valley to ensure the safety of the Jiangxia army.

Liu Jing was patrolling the valley alone with his hands behind his back. At the fifth update, he woke up from his sleep. In fact, he was a little nervous and had a hint of expectation.

He already knew that the enemy he was about to face was Xu Huang, who was a famous general under Cao Cao. He was looking forward to being able to fight Xu Huang.

At this time, a soldier rushed to report: "Mr. Jia is here."

Liu Jing was stunned and suddenly overjoyed. Jia Xu actually came, which was a surprise. He stood up and looked north and saw dozens of soldiers guarding Jia Xu on horseback.

He hurriedly met him, "Why is Mr. Jia coming?"

Jia Xu smiled and said, "I rushed to Xiakou the day after Zhou Mu left, but I didn't catch the boat and had to come with General Wei."

Liu Jing suddenly felt relieved. Jia Xu was willing to come to Xiangyang on his own initiative, which means that his knot had been untied. Even if he helped him deal with Cao Cao, he would not have any psychological barriers.

"Sir, please rest in the account"

Liu Jing general Jia Xu asked to go to the military tent, and asked with a smile: "Have General Wei's army arrived, too?"

Jia Xu nodded, "I just arrived in the morning and am now stationed fifteen miles east of Xiangyang City."

The two entered the marching tent. The marching tent was very small, equivalent to four or five square meters in later generations, and they could not lift their heads. There was only one table, a bamboo box, and another blanket was placed on the ground. It was exactly the same as the soldiers. This marching tent was Liu Jing's temporary office.

The two sat on both sides of the table. There was a map of Xiangyang on the table. Before dawn, an oil lamp illuminated the map.

At this time, a personal soldier brought two cups of hot tea. Jia Xu picked up the tea bowl, took a sip of the tea and said with a smile: "Prime Minister Cao should go back to Nanyang now."

"How do you know, sir?"

"I know him. In such an indecisive battle, he will not watch the failure. If he is unable to reverse it, then leaving is also a kind of avoidance. The responsibility for failure can only be borne by Cao Ren. Therefore, Prime Minister Cao will inevitably order Cao Ren to evacuate Xiangyang. It is one thing to preserve his strength, and going back to take responsibility for him is another reason."

Liu Jing nodded. Jia Xu had a thorough understanding of human nature. He thought about it and asked again: "Why do you think I'm closing the door and beating dogs, or letting them go and taking Xiangyang?"

"This requires the provincial governor to weigh the pros and cons. What is the purpose of the provincial governor? Is it annihilated the Cao army or seize Xiangyang, and how sure is it to completely annihilate the Cao army and Jiangxia army, how much is it to be prepared to return, and whether it is worth paying such a big price

In addition, if the army of Nanjun came to fish in troubled waters, will Liu Cao and Clam fight? In the end, Liu Bei, the fisherman, benefited, all these issues need to be carefully considered by the provincial governor.”

Liu Jing was silent. Jia Xu was worthy of being a top strategist. Every sentence was said to the point. He sighed and said, "But Liu Bei has not returned yet. Do you think the Nanjun Army will wade into this muddy water?"

Jia Xu smiled and said, "If I were Zhuge Liang and had military power in my hands, then I would definitely come. As long as I plan well, I can reap the benefits of the fisherman and take Xiangyang City into my arms. Don't forget that Xiangyang City is the Cai family in power. If Cao's army withdraws, the people who are in charge of Xiangyang City will definitely be the Cai family. The provincial governor thinks they will surrender to Jiangxia or Nanjun."

"If it were the Cai family, there is no doubt that they would not surrender to me, they would only surrender to Nanjun."

The words were already very clear, and Liu Jing also understood. He knew what he should do. He stood up and bowed to Jia Xu, "Sir, I remember the words of golden jade, please hurry up and take a moment to rest."

After saying that, he quickly walked out of the marching tent and inspected the soldiers' situation. The soldiers were all sleeping heavily. The weather was a little cool, but it was not cold. It was the most conducive season for sleeping.

When he walked to a tree, he saw a young soldier sleeping ugly. When the blanket was kicked to the side, he couldn't help but smile and bent down to wrap the blanket tightly for the soldier. Unexpectedly, the young soldier woke up suddenly. Seeing Liu Jing in front of him, he was so scared that he screamed in shock and sat up.

Liu Jing smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he would continue to sleep and not disturb others, but at this time, many soldiers around him were awakened, sat up, rubbed their sleepy eyes, just like dominoes being pushed, and more and more soldiers woke up.

Liu Jing couldn't help but smile bitterly. His caring move had such a great impact, which made him unexpected.

At this time, Li Jun quickly walked up to report in a low voice: "After receiving the news from the scout, Cao's army has begun to reorganize the army."

Liu Jing nodded, "Then let the brothers get up too, prepare for breakfast."

Dongdongdongdongdong

The drums sounded, and the soldiers of Jiangxia soldiers who were sleeping in the valley woke up from their sleep, quickly packed up and lined up to prepare for breakfast. The Huotou Army had cooked hot porridge and delivered buckets of hot porridge to the soldiers. The soldiers all brought noodles, biscuits and food, and each sat aside and ate their breakfast voraciously.

Liu Jing stood in a temporary pavilion halfway up the mountain, watching the movements of the Cao army in the distance. The Cao army was about eight miles south of Longbeiyuan, and the morning mist was everywhere, blocking his sight and making him unable to see the situation of the Cao army opposite.

But he faintly heard the drum sound coming from the opposite side. This was the sound of gathering drums, which meant that Cao's army had finished their breakfast and began to assemble and line up.

It is obvious that the wilderness separated by them will become the battlefield for the two armies to confront each other. Liu Jing couldn't help but carefully check this wilderness. He was very familiar with this wilderness and had passed by more than once, but at that time they were planted with crops, and there were large undulating waves of wheat on both sides of the official road. At this time, it was a bare area, like a chessboard, with fields and ditches everywhere, and he felt very strange.

Frankly speaking, it is not suitable for setting up a battlefield, and there are many obstacles, but now, the two armies are completely unwilling to take care of it. This is a key battle to seize Jingzhou and defend Jingzhou, and the geographical environment is no longer important.

Li Jun walked to Liu Jing and asked in a low voice: "Our army now has 10,000 troops, and the other side only has a thousand troops. Do we need to concentrate our superior forces to defeat the other side in one fell swoop?"

In fact, the withdrawal of Cao's army was what Liu Jing expected most. If Cao's army retreated from Xiangyang City, then Jiangxia's army would seize Xiangyang City without any effort. All he could have waited overnight and gave Cao's army time to retreat.

In order to get Cao's army to evacuate Xiangyang, he spared no effort to suppress Longzhong and put pressure on Cao Ren in order to force him to leave Xiangyang.

This was also Jia Xu's suggestion. He finally accepted this suggestion and let Cao's army go, not caring about annihilation of Cao's army for a while. The key is to seize Xiangyang City.

Thinking of this, Liu Jing smiled and asked, "Is there any movement in Xiangyang City?"

Li Jun shook his head, "I received the news from the scouts. Cao's army in Xiangyang City had gathered last night, but he had not left the city for a long time."

This news was a bit beyond Liu Jing's expectations. Cao Ren did not leave the city, which means that Cao Ren was also suspicious and had to put pressure on him to leave the city.

Liu Jing immediately ordered: "Send troops and arrange a formation"

Li Jun was overjoyed and ran down. For a moment, a low horn sounded in the valley. This was a signal of going out. Ten thousand Jiangxia troops ran towards Longbeiyuan with murderous intent.

At the same time, Xu Huang led a thousand troops to advance slowly, but he did not go deep into Longbeiyuan, but stopped for only one mile and soon, the Jiangxia army stopped moving forward about one mile away from Cao's army.

Both sides were waving flags and horses, and both sides were elite troops. However, in comparison, the Jiangxia army was obviously stronger than the other side. Xu Huang was a little worried. If Cao Ren's reinforcements did not come, he was worried that he would not be able to defend Longzhong.

Originally, Xu Huang firmly opposed the evacuation of Xiangyang, but he thought about it all night last night before finally understanding why the Prime Minister said that he could not defend Xiangyang. The problem was not with Cao's army, but with Jingzhou's military and civilians, it was obviously impossible for them to follow Cao's army so resolutely to resist Liu Jing.

If the Jingzhou army offered the city and retreated to the west and was cut off, then they would really lose their heads. It was because of this that Xu Huang changed his mind and hoped that Cao Ren could evacuate as soon as possible, but Cao Ren began to be unsure of his concern and refused to evacuate Xiangyang for a long time.

Xu Huang was anxious. He sent soldiers to urge Cao Ren twice overnight, but there was no movement until now. Zhu Ling was nervously building fortifications. How long can he withstand it can only do his best.

Xu Huang knew that he had few soldiers and could not resist the Jiangxia army that was twice as big as his, and he insisted on fighting with the Jiangxia army. The fundamental reason was that he had to delay time as much as possible to fight for Cao Ren's reinforcements, and also to win the defense time for Zhu Ling.

But Cao Ren was a little disappointed, but Xu Huang didn't know that the reason why Cao Ren did not come was not that he changed his mind, and the army of Nanjun unexpectedly appeared south of Xiangyang, which made him need to observe the changes in the situation.
Chapter completed!